


Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble

by linatrinch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Familiars, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Snakes, True Love, Witchcraft, Witches, not a lot of angst though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linatrinch/pseuds/linatrinch
Summary: Finn, a young witch, left his coven and everything he once knew to make a life for himself in the great big world. He settled down in a quiet community, hoping to find the stranger he had fallen in love with in that same area years before.A witchcraft sort of au. Something a little different.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was made with the loving inspiration of [this art post](http://saraduvall.tumblr.com/post/152404047919) on tumblr by @saraduvall. She agreed to let me write this, and I really hope I lived up to the standards. (Also, wow, I can't believe I finished this in time. Woohoo.)
> 
> A few things before we get started. I only used what knowledge of fantasy witchcraft I've gathered from tv over the years, meaning that I didn't research anything for this fic. And I like it better that way. I like the little universe I created here. Also, when I use the term “witch,” I'm referring to anyone with magical abilities, so none of this “wizards are boy witches” stuff in here. Lastly, I've thought of covens more like unions or guilds or something. They help you get your lot in life, find jobs, teach the kids, etc etc. The First Order is a terrible example of a proper coven as they're more like a cult.
> 
> I may expand on this more later, make a little series out of it, I don't know. I just like the little au I've got here. But let's see what you guys think. Happy Halloween!

Finn was in love.

And he didn't know how to make it _stop_.

The problem wasn't that he was stuck up or anything. It was just that the man he loved didn't know he existed.

It happened like this. About two, maybe three years ago, Finn had been looking for a familiar. The coven he was in at the time had strict rules that went in every which direction, and one of those rules was that a young witch would not be able to own their own familiar until the age of twenty-one. (So it had to be at least three years ago, right? Wow, that had to make him seem really desperate.)

So anyway, Finn had been looking for a familiar in various pet stores. None of them seemed right, so he kept his search going throughout the state until he found this small country town where one of the other customers stopped talking to the cashier and grabbed his hand, just like that.

He still remembered the sight to this day, could hardly get it out of his head. The windows were open in the shop, letting in the spring breeze and allowing the vines and rose bushes to grow between the panes. The sunlight danced over the flowers and over the handsome stranger's hair, the same stranger who had been scrutinizing his palm. “Sorry, buddy. You look like you're tired of looking around. Thought I'd lend a hand,” he said in way of explanation, not even looking up at him. “What happened to your last one, if you don't mind me asking?”

How did this man know he was a witch, too? Could he feel it in the air? He'd heard of people being able to do that. “My- My last _pet_?”

The man glanced up, his dark eyes landing right on him, and smirked. “Sure.”

“I, uh- I've never-”

The smile fell, and the handsome stranger lowered their joined hands. “This is your first familiar?”

“I-!” Finn glanced to the oblivious yet smiling cashier and back to the stranger a few times. “I've not- I've-”

“Hey, it's okay. I've heard some covens do that just like the old days. It's cool.” The man gave another reassuring smile and looked back at his palm again. “I'd saaaay-.... Hmm... How you feel about snakes, buddy?”

And that was how Angelica, a small buttermilk snake with pale skin and beady red eyes, came to be in Finn's care. And the handsome stranger's existence dropped from his mind for at least a little while. Until everyone in his coven began to criticize his choice of a familiar. She was small at the time, sure – could wrap around his wrist about two times if she stretched – but that was no reason to dislike her or figure he was making a weak choice.

Which was when he remembered the handsome stranger's words. About how choosing a familiar this late in life was apparently an older tradition to do when his coven, the First Order, made it seem as if it was progressive of them.

This led him to question everything, from rituals to hiding their identities and even to the strict laws of never leaving the land. If it hadn't been for the handsome stranger, Finn never would have broken that law and he never would have ran away.

It was scary – _freaking horrifying –_ to leave behind everything he knew, but at least he had a destination in mind. The same small country town where he had found Angelica and the man that led him to her, the town where the non-magical cashier overheard every word of their conversation and never batted an eye.

He settled in a tiny rent house in that same town, found a minimum wage job to get his feet beneath him, and set to work. He even made friends. He had a _life_.

Three (or was it two?) years later, Finn had settled in enough to work from home. He was still paying rent to his landlady, Maz, but she enjoyed taking some of his merchandise in lieu of monetary payment, so they had a great relationship. See, where the First Order had been a literal hell on Earth, they at least instructed their young witches in tough academics from the get-go, and Finn had always had a gift with potions and tonics. He could give a person clear skin, allow them to sleep through the night, cure a rough bout of the flu, make hairballs easier for cats to handle, give hair and nails an extra shine, and so on. Even some of the more magical things, such as changing a hair color or changing a pitch of someone's voice or- well, anything. Needless to say, he had quite the customer base.

And being a small town where one was popular, he was bound to meet a lot of people, right? Yet, he still hadn't found the handsome stranger again.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. He _had_ found him, just not face to face.

“As tall as me,” he had described some time ago, “with dark hair, dark eyes, sharp facial features, about an olive skin tone. He was a witch, I think. He could read palms. I didn't see a familiar with him. He was wearing a leather jacket, though. It was in the spring time. Come on, you have to remember. It was the first time you saw me. When I bought Angelica, remember? I'm sure a ton of people don't go in to buy snakes.” His familiar, who had been watching intently from his shoulder, turned her head sharply towards him. “Um, no offense.”

Snap, who came by once a month to pick up something for the swelling feet of his pregnant wife who happened to own said pet store, rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. The little smile on his face was kind of a give away, though. “Curly hair? Sparkly eyes? Jawline you can sharpen a knife on?”

“Yes!” Finn stood up from his stool in a jolt, knocking the seat over. The plants crammed into the green room absorbed most of his outburst, but poor Angelica had toppled off his shoulder. “Yes, that's him! That's-! Wait, what about his jawline?”

Snap burst into a hearty laugh, slapping the wooden table. When it simmered down to low giggles, he finally explained. “That's Poe. Poe Dameron. I _guess_ I know him. We went to school together. Partied together. Got drunk together. Flipped a truck one time together. I gotta tell you that story later. You should have seen his face! It just flipped over _once_! The damn thing was in park the whole time, and he was clutching the steering wheel for dear life. His fault for parking on the side of the damn levee.”

“Snap. Snap, I- This is important. I'm sorry, I-” Finn slowly sat back down, ignoring Angelica flicking her tongue at him in annoyance. “I need to find him. Where does he live?”

“He comes and goes,” Snap shrugged.

Finn's heart ever so slowly drifted to the floor. “Comes and goes?”

“Part of the work he does,” the other man explained. “He doesn't belong to any coven, which few people do nowadays, but he _did_ get exiled from one. Kind of- Well, it puts a social stigma on a person, especially in small towns. You seem like the type of guy that something like that wouldn't bother you.”

Of course it wouldn't. Technically, legally, Finn had been exiled for running away. But everyone seemed so nice to him, even when he spoke about it. So he gave a deep frown. “What happened?”

“Don't know the details,” Snap sighed at the table. “He told me parts of it. A friend of his in the coven was murdered, but the evidence stacked it up to look like an accident. He kept trying to challenge it, and they eventually kicked him out.”

“For trying to get justice for a friend?”

Snap raised a hand, shrugging again. “Like I said, I don't know the details. Most people, once they catch wind of it, find it to be a fishy story, so he never stays in one place too long. I told him he has a home here – and he does, everyone knows what kind of man he is – but he keeps going anyway. I mean, the work he's doing now is good money. Engineering and the like for big companies. It's just that he doesn't ever really settle.”

“Oh.”

And that had been that for awhile. Knowing the man's name, knowing he would likely come back one day, kept Finn hanging on to see him again. At first it was just to thank him for the seed he planted in his mind, for the thought that led to him leaving the First Order and creating such a wonderful life for himself. But then it grew. And grew. And wouldn't stop growing.

Not to say he'd never seen him. The town's market was small and busy, and Poe was always there during the later part of October. The first time Finn had seen him, he wasn't entirely sure if it was the handsome stranger, so he'd followed him and eventually let him go. The following year, he'd nearly barreled over himself to get closer to him, but then, once entirely too close for comfort, barreled over himself to get away. The year after that, he caught another glimpse of him and stayed hidden. He'd only seen him that year for maybe half a second.

And he was completely infatuated. And felt like a stalker.

“Maybe it was a love potion?” Jess had suggested while visiting his home one evening.

“Maybe you should _make_ a love potion,” Rey added quickly, elbowing him in the ribs. “Snag yourself a good one, Finn!”

“I'm not doing that!” Despite his outburst, the girls just giggled at him, and that was the whole problem. He was worthless. Pathetic. Laughable even. “I have so many problems right now. I'm being ridiculous.”

“Oh, you're not ridiculous, sweetheart,” Rey patted him on the back, sobering enough to really dig out the pity card. “What you're feeling is perfectly natural. I mean, this is the classic case of a distant, forbidden love. It's practically Shakespearean.”

“Shakespearean?” Jess scoffed. “Don't tell the poor kid that. We're not all going to die, Finn. I promise. She's kidding.”

Finn had groaned then. He felt like he was still internally groaning now.

It was October 31st, the morning of All Hallows' Eve, and Finn was walking through the market as per his usual daily events. He wasn't as restless as he usually was during _that_ particular month because he hadn't seen any sign that Poe had come to town at all. Which was both relieving and depressing. If only he could find someone half as interesting as his mind Poe out to be and move on.

Then a kid clamped on to his leg. “Finn!”

“Hi, Eric,” he smiled, laughing as he walked- _wobbled_ over to Karé's stall. During the harvest season, almost every shop owner set up a little booth to promote their business, and the little pet store was included in that bunch. Surrounding the dark skinned, blonde haired woman were cages of whistling birds, sleeping cats, and a few unmoving toad frogs. The chameleon slowly climbing her upper arm darted his eyes between Finn and the one year-old child attached to his leg. “Hi, Karé. Hey, Al.”

Al didn't answer. Al never answered. (Angelica thought him to be rude.) But Karé put on a smile and cocked an eyebrow at her son. “Young man, I thought I told you to stay in your seat.”

“But 'tis Finn, mama,” the boy pouted, looking up to his mother with eyes bigger than Snap's.

“I know who it is. Come sit down and drink your apple juice.”

To make the blow a little easier, Finn ruffled his hair. Eric lit up and ran around the stall, waving his arms, and flopping back into his chair. “How are you guys doing? How's the skin?”

“The breakout is _gone_ thanks to you, magic man,” Karé smiled, clearly happy to be (mostly) done with post-baby body problems. “But I might be hitting you up for some more of the swelling feet hoodoo joojoo in a couple of months.”

Finn gasped, glancing quickly to Eric (who was far more concerned with drooling on his celery stick), and turning his wide eyes back to the woman. “ _Seriously?_ Congratulations, Karé. Wow.”

“We aren't sure of anything just yet,” she rushed to say, waving a hand to get him a little less excited despite her own smirk. “But yeah, I'm just- I'm _so_ happy.”

“I am, too,” he said sincerely, face hurting from his smile. “Please give my best to Snap.”

“Of course,” she chuckled, then seemed to remember something. “Oh right, by the way, you doing anything tonight, kid?”

It almost seemed like the customary thing to ask in this town. It was... _horrible_ for a witch to spend Halloween night on their own, and since Finn had no family and no coven, he was invited everywhere. Most of the time he spent it with Maz or Rey or even Leia Organa, the sweet yet bold community leader of the area, but sometimes he liked to spend it with anyone else that was like him, just sort of drifting around with no one else to be with. A person could meet some interesting people that way.

And even if he did have plans, he always deeply appreciated being asked and given options. “I was probably going to spend it with Maz. Why? You two throwing another party?”

“Not exactly, seeing as how I _still_ can't have, um, adult juice.” She glanced to the kid, who was kicking his legs and watching the people passing by, before turning back to Finn. Except her smile turned into one that was a little sad. “Actually, I had heard you do this sometimes, so I thought- Well, there's this guy, _great_ guy, witch guy, living a mile or so outside of town and he's not with anyone tonight. Snap invited him to our place, but he declined. I know you might have plans, but if you know anyone...? With kids, we can't just-... Well, you get it.”

Finn frowned, worry and heartbreak setting in. “Why did he decline? Is it... the K-I-D?”

“I don't _think_ so? I don't know.” She sighed. “I think he just wants to be alone for Halloween but that's just-”

“Lonely, yeah.” Finn frowned, and nodded to her. “I'll see what I can do, Karé. Do you have directions? … And I'm gonna need a pumpkin. Who's selling pumpkins?”

With a relieved smile, Karé happily scribbled down directions on the back of a blank receipt and pointed him towards Nien's stall where pumpkins twice the size of Finn's head were selling for cheap. If the stranger really did want to be alone for the evening, Finn wouldn't make him budge on the issue, but he still wanted to reach out and the best way to welcome someone to the area was through food. He picked a smaller pumpkin out and set for home.

Several hours later, armed with a freshly made pumpkin pie and a few of his more popular tonics as a gift, Finn and Angelica had weaved their way through a patch of wooded area to find a quaint little cabin with smoke already rising from the chimney. Dusk had only just began to fall in as Finn walked to the door, giving Angelica the lecture on how to act in front of strangers. Again. “I don't care what his familiar is or how they look at you, you can't bite them unprovoked. You're a _snake_. People are scared of that kind of thing.”

She flicked her tongue out at him, now able to wrap around his wrist and forearm four times easily, before looking back to the cabin and promptly ignoring him. With a sigh, he made his way to the front door before noticing movement on top of the fire wood stacked beside the house. The shadow shifted, slinking close enough for Finn to see a _hairless_ cat – the damn thing was so ugly that it was cute – before deciding to grow skiddish and dashing away through the raised window.

He cleared his throat, shot one last “behave” to Angelica, and took a deep breath, closing the distance to the front door. He knocked, put on his best smile, and waited.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Finn wondered if he'd even been heard. Then there was shuffling, muttering, a few small sounds coming from the open window that slowly got louder on approach. Then the door opened.

Poe's smile was a polite one. “Yeah? Can I-” A polite smile that slowly faded as the man straightened up and stared at him.

Finn, meanwhile, was gripping the pie dish until his fingers turned white, biting his bottom lip so hard that he was pretty sure it was bleeding, trying desperately to not drop everything in his arms. _This_ was Poe's home? Snap had to know. Surely Karé knew, too! How could they-!? No. No, he wasn't prepared. He wasn't ready for this. He couldn't do it. He couldn't. “H- Hi.”

The other man blinked at him, totally shocked by the sight in front of him. Probably because Finn was an absolute _mess_. Sure, a minute ago he was a perfectly presentable human being but _now_ after _this_. “It's you,” Poe finally said, breathlessly. Finn stopped shaking – when did he start shaking? – and stared back as the other man pointed at him. “The guy at Snap and Karé's store a few years ago. The guy with the snake.”

 _Holy_ \- He _remembered_ him? “I- Ye- Yeah... Yeah. That's- That's me.”

“Wow.” Slowly, incredibly, a wide smile presented itself over Poe's features, brightening him up considerably. “Hi! Man, this is awesome. I thought I'd never see you again.”

Did that imply that he had wanted to see Finn again? Or was he just making a remark? Was Finn digging too much out of it? Did it mean anything at all? Maybe he should just try to talk back. That's how conversation worked, right?

He tried to open his mouth... It didn't really work that well...

Angelica, bless her, decided to uncurl herself a bit from Finn's arm and make an approach over the pie dish, flicking her little tongue to taste the air around the new person and to gain his attention.

Poe quickly eyed her, gasping in happiness. “And look at _you_ , pretty thing! Someone got big and beautiful! I'm pretty good at making decent matches, right?”

Well at least Finn didn't have to worry about her biting anyone. “Ah- Angelica.” Poe glanced up to him, and Finn _really_ tried not to flounder. “Her name. I named her Angelica.”

“That's adorable. I love it.” He looked back to the snake, smiling at her in that same smile he gave Finn the first time they had met. “It suits you, don't you think? Oh!” Poe finally noticed the things in the other's arms.

Actually, Finn just noticed that himself. What was he supposed to do now? What in the world was he supposed to say? Hi, I wanted to share this pie with a stranger in the woods? “It's for you,” is what blurted out of his mouth. Which was true, at least.

“For me? Really? I-” Poe looked down at the gifts, alarmingly shocked, then suddenly seemed to come back to himself. “Right! Right, sorry. Sorry. Wanna come in? Come in. Please. I'll make some coffee. Or hot chocolate? Tea?”

“Um-” He didn't want to put this wonderful person out because of him, but Poe was offering things, and he was just standing out in the cold with an increasingly annoyed snake. _Be a man, Finn!_ “Hot chocolate sounds nice.” _Good enough._

“Okay,” Poe smiled brightly, watching Finn step over the threshold and into the warm, cozy home. “Just come on in. Make yourself comfortable. Here.” Dameron took the gifts from Finn's arms, freeing him up a bit more. “I'll just put this in the kitchen for now. I'll be right back. Please, sit anywhere. Take a seat. Right back.” And Poe was gone.

It was totally wrong to even consider killing a possibly pregnant woman but, oh, Finn wanted to consider it so badly. How did things go _this_ wrong?

He gulped and took a look around the room. The fire blazed in perfect, popping glory in front of the couch, where a crochet blanket of mismatched patterns draped across the back of it. All of the furniture was of a brown wood, some of it sanded and polished, some of it not. Along the walls, old black and white pictures were hung in frames of about the same age and rusted pieces of machinery were placed here and there, too. Clearing his throat, trying hard to find an ounce of courage, Finn removed his wool coat, placed it on a hook beside a few other jackets, and moved into the house just enough to awkwardly sink into the edge of the sofa. He faintly remembered that one of the tonics he'd gifted Poe was a little something to calm nerves. Finn wondered if one missing or empty bottle would go unnoticed, despite them now being in the kitchen.

He let a slow breath out, trying to keep calm and not _think_ so much, as Angelica slithered her way up his arm and over his shoulders. Great, even she noticed enough to be worried.

Finn swallowed and started on intaking another deep breath, staring down at the intricate rug beneath his feet. His eyes followed it over to the fire and... a figure next to the chimney. He jumped, seeing the hairless cat curled into a ball, glaring daggers at him.

“That's just Bee-Bee,” Poe's voice said followed by the sound of the window shutting. Finn turned in time to catch sight of the other man grabbing the mugs he left on the table, to presumably close said window, and walked over to the couch with a big smile as the spoons continued stirring their drinks. “I wasn't sure if you wanted marshmallows, but-”

Who could drink hot chocolate without them? “That's fine. Thank you,” Finn managed to say in a civilized manner without stuttering over words or anything.

With a bigger smile, Poe handed him one of the mugs and promptly sat down beside him. “She likes to look scary,” he suddenly changed the subject, pointing at the cat again. “She's not, really. Just wants to look the part.”

Bee-Bee's tail swished, seemingly in protest of the accusation.

Finn, trying to be of the decent sort that actually contributed to a conversation, asked, “Is she your-...?”

“Yeah,” Poe chuckled. “Been together for a long time now.”

And that was his opening. It was now or never. “I live in town now.”

“Yeah, I'd heard.”

Oh. Well, that plan was derailed. “You had?”

“Yeah,” Poe laughed, as if it were a common fact. “Everyone's always talking about Finn's potions and stuff. I eventually put two and two together. And, by the way, thank you for the- Well, thank you for all of that stuff, actually. You really didn't have to. I appreciate it.”

“I wanted to.” And he had. Actually, if he'd known this was Poe's place, he would have brought more. Actually, he would have never shown up to begin with, too terrified at the prospect of seeing the other man again like this.

“Thanks,” Poe said all too sincerely, his voice going a bit lower. “How did you know I was out here? I mean-... How are you here?”

Oh, well, Poe, you see, I had heard that there was this witch all by themselves on Halloween night and I just could not let them suffer through that sorrow without an audience! _Errr. Wrong._ But what else could he say? “I-... Well, I was just-... I was around and I-...”

“It's okay,” the other laughed, shaking his head. “Don't worry about it. I'm still glad to see you. Um... Actually, since you're here and all, want to have some of that pie with me before you leave?”

Oh dear. Oh no. Oh man. “I- Sure- I mean, yeah. Yeah, sure, yeah- That- Yeah.”

“Yeah?” Poe laughed again, making Finn blush that much more. He set his drink to the side and stood. “Be right back. Don't get up,” he happily announced, making his way to the kitchen as the stirring spoons slowly came to a halt in each mug.

Poe had come back, each of hand holding a plate with a piece of pie, and they had somehow fell into a conversation. A few hours later, they had moved from the couch to the floor, the entire pie mostly gone between them and their drinks refilled, laughing like old friends. Finn had thus far learned that Poe knew Snap since they were children, had a lot of skills in fortunes and divinity, even more skills with anything that had a motor in it, and that he drifted around a lot but always managed to find his way back home. In the course of all that, Finn had explained some things about his upbringing, about his old coven, and about how he left shortly after getting his familiar, though not the entire reason as to why.

“I'm glad, Finn,” he answered to that, twirling a finger around to make the spoon stir his new mug of hot chocolate. “It's probably not my place to say, but it didn't seem like they were a good fit for you when we met that first time.”

“It's absolutely a good thing to say.”

Poe had chuckled, then suddenly offered his hand over. “I guess I was kind of invading before, but you want me to give another crack at it?”

Finn blinked, confused for a moment before it clicked together. “Palm reading?” The other nodded. He saw no reason why not, shrugged, and put his hand in Poe's. Ah, that's a good reason as to why not. Finn took a deep breath as hands moved gently and deftly over his, interlacing their fingers from the back so that Poe could see his palm better. Oh, this was _rough_.

Yet, through all of their talking, Finn had yet to see a red flag. Sure, he was wearing the world's largest pair of rose colored glasses, but he was really keeping an eye out, too. Because Poe couldn't be everything he wanted him to be. Except... he kind of was, and it was kind of insane and reassuring and awful and terrible. When would the other shoe drop?

Poe tilted his head this way and that, concentrating on the lines of his hand, before giving a small, warm smile. “You're happier,” he said softly, looking back up with equally warm eyes.

Finn, who couldn't contain his own grin, bit his lip. “Yeah. Very much so.”

“Good,” Poe breathed, going back to the palm again. For a beat, he squinted his eyes, then they widened and his hand that was wrapped in Finn's gently untangled itself but didn't move away. “You're in love,” he announced, voice taking on a different tone.

Oh. _Ooooh_. Nope. “I-! I'm not-!” Inside voice. Inside voice. “I mean, I'm-” Finn cleared his throat. _Adult_ inside voice. “I'm not. It's just a crush.”

One side of Poe's lips tried to rise in the image of a grin but didn't quite make it. “I've seen crushes, buddy. That's _not_ just a crush.”

… Well, how could it be love? Finn didn't even know him! “We're not together,” he tried in vain.

“I gathered,” and Poe actually did let out a little laugh that time. “You should be, though. It looks- Well, it looks pretty solid.”

It's _not_ , though. It's really _not_. “I guess it's just complicated,” Finn muttered, defeated at the idea.

“Just talk to them, buddy,” Poe advised, his happy voice of earlier seeming to be gone. “Actually, tonight's a good-” He glanced up to the clock above the mantle and nearly chocked. “It's almost midnight!”

“What?” Had they been sitting and talking for that long already?

Finn's wandering was swept aside as Poe began to push his shoulder. “You need to go! You're gonna miss it! What are you doing? You should be with _them!_ Not over here with _me!_ Did you forget what day it is? If you hurry, you can still make it!”

Still make it? Oh, wait. No, no, no, no, no, _wait!_ “Poe! I- I don't- I don't want to go!”

Dameron stopped shoving at him, sinking back to the floor from the kneeling position he took. “What? You should be with your loved ones tonight.”

“I know, I know. It's just- I don't have family, so I just spend Halloween wherever, and it's okay if you think I'm intruding. I can go if you want me to, it's okay, but I just wanted to- I mean, I- If it's all right, I didn't really _want_ to... leave... If that's okay?”

Poe blinked at him, honestly looking lost, and pointed at Finn's hand. “What about them?” he asked in a quiet voice, almost whispering in case the crackling fire or sleeping familiars overheard them.

But that was still an _incredibly_ good question. Finn clasped his hands, rubbing a thumb against the aforementioned palm. What _about_ them? He licked his lips. “I left the coven because of you.” And okay, not a totally great start. He looked to Poe, who stared back at him in silence, and decided to keeping trucking along. “It wasn't really _directly_ because of you, just things you said when I got Angelica. About picking a familiar at the age I was at the time and all that. I started questioning other things they were telling us, things they were teaching us, making us _do_. And once I saw it all, I couldn't unsee it, so I left. And came here.

“I wanted to see you, talk to you, thank you for just, I don't know, _talking_ to me, letting me know there's a little more in the world. Then before I knew it, I had my own business and my own friends, and I was seeing babies being born, and people wanted me at their death beds to ease the pain, and I walk down the street and people _know_ me, and I just wanted to _thank you_. Because without you, I wouldn't be here living this life like I have been, making the family that I have now. But you weren't here, and I- I wanted to see you so badly...” Even to his own ears, it sounded awful and creepy. Finn glanced back to Poe again, staring back at him with a bit of a slack jaw and wide eyes. He gulped. “Do you want me to leave?”

There was a long moment where Poe just stared at him, slowly putting all of the little pieces together and blinking back dumbly. Finn was already shifting a bit, getting ready to bolt before the other man started throwing things at him, when Poe finally seemed to come back to himself. He took a look at Finn from his feet back to his eyes, and let out an audible breath. “Me?”

Instead of nodding or answering or confirming anything in any way, Finn sat there completely frozen, horrified that he was about to be kicked out, only to spend Halloween night alone, cold, heart broken-

“ _Oh._ ” That didn't sound entirely like a _get out of my house_ noise. “Finn. Oh, I'm-” Oh. Good. He was being polite before kicking him out. That was a little better. “ _Finn._ ” There was a gasp, a new shine to his eyes, and a smile. That was all Finn saw before their lips met.

Then Poe quickly pulled away, allowing him a partial second to recollect himself. Did Poe just kiss him? Had he just been kissed? Then he realized that Dameron was babbling. “I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- That was _really_ fast. I should not have gone that fast. That was bad. That was really bad. I should give a speech, too. I should give a long speech like you just did. I mean, I have _years_ worth of content, and you're so so worth it, and I'm probably a little sad and desperate at this point, and I'm pretty sure I'm freaking you out right now. I totally get that. I really totally get that. I'm just not any good with my-...” Finn's hand found his face, cradling his cheek. “ _Words._ ”

“That's okay,” Finn whispered, watching Poe watch him and thinking how stupid this was and feeling how amazing this was. “That's okay.”

With a random strike of boldness, he pulled Poe back into the kiss, slower this time, far more electric, opening his mouth to him and feeling his tongue and- They collapsed into the floor, Finn on top of Poe, then Poe on top of him, circulating the effort, pressing their bodies close, twining their legs together, and allowing their hands to wander well after midnight came and went without much ceremony.

The following year, Poe settled his life down enough to work locally for most of the time, switching between homes depending on their mood and convenience. Finn made extra batches of brew to help with Karé's feet, served with extra honey despite it being expensive but he figured she deserved it. And when the next Halloween came around and people asked where he'd be that night, he didn't have to think about it anymore. “I'll be with Poe.”

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
> 
> I don't remember the last time I wrote something this ridiculously fluffy. And all in one sitting, too! My legs are killing me. But I hope you guys liked it!
> 
> This was inspired by [this post](http://saraduvall.tumblr.com/post/152404047919) on tumblr. Check out how cute!! And Poe kills me every time I look at it, omg. I don't know if it's the hair dryer or the sandals or both, but omg. Anyway. Please go reblog/like that post and follow @saraduvall while you're at it! She makes great stuff and was very lovely when I busted up into her chat to ask about doing this.
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


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